[Eraser55]

Should the Sim be removed?
Or should it be kept?

Whats good and bad about having a simulator in a mmo game?

[Injustice]

That's a REALLY good question. If the flight physics and difficulty in aiming remain the same, I would say keep it. If it becomes easier (by easier I mean less in the realm of hardcore niche "trying to hit a quarter in a hurricane", and more into the "I can hardly miss this thing" territory), I would say do away with the sim, let pilots gain experience in real space.

[Jump]

Very good question. Frankly, I say dump it. So many times as Jumpgate was waining everyone was in there and not in space. It's basically an out of character safe zone. It turns Jumpgate into a shooter. I would prefer everything in game to be in character with the story line.

[Eraser55]

I agree with jump here.

[Algore]

So to practise it would make more sense shooting your wingmen in RS?

[Injustice]

Ideally the tutorial we've been discussing in another thread would handle the initial learning curve. My vote is on the assumption that Jumpgate Evolution combat won't be as difficult.

[daslog]

As I recall, the only way to get any better at PvP was to pratice in the Sim. Taking that away make's the newbies less competitive which wold make them more likely to quit.

Keep it.

[Injustice]

Put a level cap on it?

[Dragonar]

My initial wonder here was whether the offline or the online simulator was in question, but I figure now that it's the online one.

I've spent a lot of time practicing combat in the simulator, since if you wanted to do that in real space an HG tag was required, making you very vulnerable to anyone who doesn't like the look of you. Whilst that's the point of space combat, it would not be the way you train a complete rookie.

Also, often I've wondered and experimented whether that expensive piece of equipment is worth it, or whether a particular setup works in combat or not, or whether my artifacts would make a huge difference, for instance. None of these things I'd be particularly happy to try out in 'real' space.

If you have to do away with the online simulator, I propose keeping the offline one, with all items of equipment available on the station, and a few respawning enemies in space around it. That way the sim would be strictly seperate, but still give you a chance to experiment and try out a few things that you normally would find too risky or expensive.

Edit: My vote would be to keep it.

[TexMurphy]

I vote keep as its the only realy way to practice PvP, running squad training sessions where the squad fights each other in 1v1, 2v2, 3v3 situations is extreamly important way to get ready for combat duty.

For noobs its obviously a needed tool.

Though Id like to modify it a bit.

If there is a distinct difference between millitary and civilian pilots. Then millitary should have its own sim and free access to it. Civilians over level 10 should pay a small fee to use the station service.

Tex

[Algore]

So take away the more experienced pilots, leaving those less experienced to teach bad habits/practises to noobs?

[GrimGriz]

I say keep it, but keep the bots out of it. I get the impression there are going to be bots everywhere, and we might have to go to the sim to get some bot-free combat action. Further, I say keep sim stats and hold tourneys and such...set some sims up kinda like the battle grounds in WoW with CTF-style and position holding mini-games.

[Diver012]

Originally Posted by Injustice

Put a level cap on it?

Maybe but not totally emiminate the ability to use it all together. Maybe once you hit a certain lvl, you have to pay for Sim Time perhaps?